The No. 70-ranked Georgia Southern men's tennis claimed its first regular season Sun Belt conference crown with a 4-1 win at Louisiana on Sunday in Lafayette, La.
The Eagles improve to 13-8 overall record and a 7-1 mark in the Sun Belt, tying with Old Dominion for the regular season title. By virtue of the Eagles' 4-3 win over ODU earlier in the year, Georgia Southern will be the No. 1 seed in this week's Sun Belt tournament in Rome, Ga., which begins on Thursday. Louisiana falls to 11-10 overall and 4-4 in the league with the loss.
Judson Blair and Dimitris Paliouras scored a 6-2 win at No. 1 doubles for the Eagles, but Louisiana took the doubles point with a 6-2 win at No. 3 doubles and a tiebreaker win at No. 2 doubles.
In singles, Pol del Castillo earned a quick 6-4, 6-0 win at No. 2 singles to get the Eagles on the board. Aaron James Williams then followed with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Vasil Dimitrov at No. 3 singles. All of the other four singles matches ended up going to three sets.
Pierre Mouesca rallied from a first-set deficit to defeat Oriol Fillat Gimenez, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3 at No. 4 singles to put the Eagles up 3-1. Judson Blair then clinched the victory with a 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 win over Samuel Kyjaci at No. 5 singles.
The regular season conference crown is the first in program history for Georgia Southern men's tennis. The Eagles won a 1994 title in the Southern Conference, capturing the flighted tournament crown that year.
"I'm so proud of the fight, toughness and resiliency this group showed today," Georgia Southern head men's tennis coach Andrew Goodwin said. "We were able to dig in today because of the investment our guys are putting in on a daily basis. Today was just another day of building ourselves, and this program, into one of the toughest in the country. We can't wait to put it on the line this weekend at the Sun Belt Conference tournament in Rome."
RESULTS
Singles
1. Dimitris Paliouras (GS) led Alejandro Sanchez Gonzalez (LA) 4-6, 6-4, 5-4, unfinished
2. Pol del Castillo (GS) def. William Ribero (LA) 6-4, 6-0
3. Aaron James Williams (GS) def. Vasil Dimitrov (LA) 6-4, 7-5
4. Pierre Mouesca (GS) def. Oriol Fillat Gimenez (LA) 2-6, 6-1, 6-3
5. Judson Blair (GS) def. Samuel Kyjaci (LA) 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-3
6. Laurent Julia Calac (GS) and Leonard Tramolay (LA) 6-7 (3), 6-4, 3-3, unfinished
Doubles
1. Judson Blair/Dimitris Paliouras (GS) def. Alejandro Sanchez Gonzalez/Sacha Grandvincent (LA) 6-2
2. Vasil Dimitrov/Mason Landreth (LA) def. Laurent Julia Calac/Aaron James Williams (GS) 7-6 (4)
3. William Ribero/Leonard Tramolay (LA) def. Pol del Castillo/Matthew Mitchell (GS) 6-2
